Category Archives: Politics

2,000 HAIL MARYS A DAY NOT ENOUGH TO ATONE FOR JANET NAPOLES’ SINS, ACCORDING TO BISHOP

August 9, 2014 Pol Pinoy 1 Comment

Manila, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles) – Atty. Stephen David, lawyer for suspected pork barrel scandal mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles told reporters today that his client prays 2,000 Hail Marys everyday as a way to cope with the emotional and mental stress of incarceration.

Napoles is currently in jail in connection with the elaborate scam that diverted 10 Billion pesos of taxpayer money into fake Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and into the pockets of elected officials. Three senators, Juan Ponce Enrile, Bong Revilla, Jr. and Jinggoy Estrada have also been arrested and jailed for their alleged involvement in the scam.

Reacting to the lawyer’s statement, Socrates Villegas, president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said that 2,000 Hail Marys a day is not enough for Napoles to atone for her sins. Bishop Villegas said that under the moral principle of ‘an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth’ Napoles would need to pray 10 Billion Hail Marys before she can even ask the Lord for pardon. “She has a long way to go,” Villegas said.

As to whether praying Hail Marys would eventually lead to Napoles’ release from prison, Villegas said, “that’s up to the Philippine government. As you know, separation of church and state is a basic tenet of the constitution.”

Reader participation: How many Hail Marys would it take for Napoles to complete 10 Billion? Post your answers in the comment section.

International, Military, Politics, Religion

CITING WITHDRAWAL SYMPTOMS, OBAMA ORDERS AIRSTRIKE AGAINST IRAQ

August 8, 2014 Pol Pinoy Leave a comment

Washington, D.C. (The Adobo Chronicles) – The United States launched an airstrike Friday against Islamic militants in northern Iraq, just hours after President Barack Obama authorized military action against this same country that was invaded by George W. Bush in 2003.

The Pentagon said two FA-18 fighter-attack planes dropped 500-pound, laser-guided munitions on a mobile artillery place near Irbil, the capital of the Kurdish region.The jets came from the USS George H.W. Bush, an aircraft carrier operating in the Persian Gulf, according to a Defense Department official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military details.

Speaking to reporters minutes after the airstrike, Obama said the goal of today’s action was “to disarm Iraq of weapons of mass destruction and to free the Iraqi people,” using the exact same words by George W. Bush after the U.S. launched the now infamous “shock and awe” in Baghdad eleven years ago.

On October 21, 2011, Obama announced that all US troops and trainers would leave Iraq by the end of the year, bringing the US mission in Iraq to an end. On December 15, 2011, US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta officially declared the Iraq War over, at a flag lowering ceremony in Baghdad.

“The U.S. has been having withdrawal symptoms since we officially ended the Iraq War three years ago,” Obama said.”We needed something that will keep our troops busy, so we decided to look for weapons of mass destruction which may have been hidden by the late Saddam Hussein in the mountains of Irbil. Besides, we need to keep up with our reputation as world police.”

When asked by a White House reporter what makes him think that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction, Obama replied, “We saw credible evidence of WMDs using Google Maps which we then confirmed when we switched to satellite view using Google Earth.”

Business, Economy, Health & Medicine, Human Interest, Law Enforcement, Politics

PHILIPPINE TOBACCO LAW PUT ON HOLD: GRAPHIC WARNING ON CIGARETTE PACKETS TOO GRAPHIC

August 7, 2014 Pol Pinoy Leave a comment

Filipinos won't see similar graphics seen in this warning label on cigarette packs in Thailand. — Filipinos won’t see similar graphics seen in this warning label on cigarette packs in Thailand.

Manila, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles) – A new law requiring that graphic warnings showing the harmful effects of smoking be placed on all cigarette packs sold in the Philippines has been put on hold. The reason: Filipinos consider the graphic photos too graphic.

The new law, signed by President NoyNoy Aquino last July, was supposed to be in effect this month, but it has been postponed until May of 2016, to the delight of the powerful tobacco-growing industry.

The proposed graphic warnings feature gruesome photographs of the ill effects of smoking, including skin and throat cancer as well as emaciated bodies of smokers.

Soon after the proposed graphic designs were made public, tobacco companies initiated a petition to put the new law on hold until less offensive, less repulsive and less nauseating photographs are used on cigarette packs. The petition drew more than 1 Million signatures, prompting officials to suspend the law’s implementation.

In an exclusive interview with The Adobo Chronicles, a spokesperson for the Inter-Agency Committee on Tobacco (IAC-T) said that the committee has decided to replace the graphic photos with a picture of President Aquino smoking a cigarette. “Because of the growing unpopularity of Aquino, having his photograph on cigarette packs would encourage smokers to quit while discouraging young kids from starting to smoke.”

The new graphic warning on cigarette packs won’t be rolled out until May of 2016, just weeks before the president’s six-year term as president comes to an end. “That way, there will be no conflict of interest or impropriety when Aquino receives compensation and royalty from the tobacco companies for the use of his photograph,” the spokesperson said.

This will be the photo that will be used in the graphic warnings on cigarette packs: